Receiver and trigger-plate construction for firearms



Aug. 3, 1943. D. M. WILLIAMS 2,325,645

RECEIVER AND TRIGGER-PLATE CONSTRUCTION FOR FIREARMS Filed Feb. 4, 1942 2 Sheets$heet 1 1943 D. M. WlLLlAMS 2,325,646

RECEIVER AND TRIGGER-PLATE CONSTRUCTION FOR FIREARMS Filed Febv 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 3, 1943 RECEIVER AND TRIGGER- PLATE CON- STRUCTION FOR FIREARMS David M. Williams, New Haven, Conn, assignor to Western Cartridge Company, New Haven, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Application Februa y 4, 194:, Serial to. 429.44

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in firearms and relates more particularlyto im provements in receiver and trigger-plate constructions for firearms.

In firearms of the type wherein parts such as the receiver-unit and the .trigger plate unit are coupled together with capacity for rapid demounting for purposes of cleaning and repair, it some times happens that the user of the firearm will forget or neglect to see that the firing-member is in its uncooked position prior to attempting such disassemoly. Such a situation is dangerous, inasmuch as the firing-member is apt to be unintentionally released from its cocked position during the operation of disassembly with the result that the firearm is liable to be accidentally discharged. More often, however, the accidental discharge of the firearm will not occur, but the hammer or other firing-member is apt to inflict painful injuries upon the user if accidentally re leased from its cocked position either during or following the separation of the two said units from each other.

One of the objects of the present invention. is to provide a superior firearm construction in which the receiver-unit and the trigger'plate unit thereof are readily separable one from the other for purposes of cleaning and repair and in which construction, the separation of such units is per mitted only when the firing-mechanism is in such condition as to minimize the risk of-injury to the user by being struck by a hammer. or the likeor at the risk of the accidental and unintentional discharge of the firearm with its consequent danger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a superior firearm construction embodying a receiver-unit and a trigger plate unit coupled together with capacity for rapid separation, and a firing-mechanism which automatically guards against the separation of the two said units when the firing-emechanism is cocked and therefore in a potentially dangerous condition. With the above and other objects in View, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art and which are not claimed in any separate application.

In the accompanying drawings, which certain modes of carrying out the present inven tion are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a broken view partly in side elevation and mainly in vertical :centraldonsitudmal section of a firearm receiver-unit and a tri ger-plate unit shown in normal assembled relationship. sether with a portion of a fireomma rel;

Fig. 2 is a similar view but howing the tri e plate unit in side elevati n mov d eorward y relative to the receiver-un t until checked by t guard-arm of the hammer;

3 is a view general y correspond ng to F gs. 1 and 2, ut showing the hammer it uncooked position ,to thereby Permit the trisse eplate u to be moved rearwerdly relative to he rece v unit to a degree sufficient t permit the d ins of the said triseer plate uni Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6--4 of Fig. 1-; a

Fi 5 is atrflnsverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. .6 is a top or ole-n View of the triggereplate unit-detached:

i "1 is a view thereot in side elevation;

Fi 8 is-" t a sverse sectional view t en on the line 8MB of Fig.-

9 isavicw of the reeeivenumt mainly in side elevation a d Pa tly in v rtical ce a o 'r gitudinel s ction, toget er tithe-p rti n f th barrel; Y

Fi 10 is an underside iew of Fi 9; and r r Fig 1 i a transverse se tional view taken on line HFH of Fi .1

The particular receiver and triggersplate construction f r firea ms. herein chosen fo pu of iilustratine the present invention includes in the m in a oceiver unt .15, a triggerep e i 46 and a barrel IT. The rear end. of the barrel i1 is rigidly attached in any approved manner to the forward end of thereceiver-unit I5, while the tri ger-p ate unit 16 is emoun ebly a tach d to the underside of the receiver-unit 15 in a manner as will. be hereinafter describ d- The receiver-un t i5 is form d with a l s tudinelybol-tereceivine hamber 18 i whi is adapted to reciprocate a bre ch hd of a y S able type. The said receiver-w it I5 is formed with any upwardly-leading eiectionwpenins i9 through which cartridge-cases may be ejected. in any suitable manner. Also and as is particularly well shown in Figs. 9 and 19, the under-portion oi the receiver-unit i5 is formed adjacent its forward-end with a vertical magazine-receivin passage 29 and adjacent its rear end with a veritioal clearance-passage 2 I y the rear wall of which latt on tutes a iorwardlyeiocing loc i abutment 22 for purpose as will herein i e ppe r The ma azineece ving pes ase 2o" endh the structure of Spaced slightly below the web 23 of the re-. l

ceiver-unit I5, the said unit is formed with two longitudinal inwardly-projecting coupling-ribs 25-45, one of which projects inwardly from each of the respective opposite side-walls of the said receiver-unit, as is especially well shown in Figs.-

4and 11.

Resting respectively upon the coupling-ribs 25--25 of the receiver-unit n is one of two cor responding longitudinal coupling-ribs 26-26 respectively laterally offsetting in opposite directions from a lug-like extension 21 upstanding from the trigger-plate unit substantially midway of the length thereof.

At its forward upper portion, the'trigger-p'late unit I6 is "formed with a stabilizing-lug 28 which normally fits withinthelongitudinal groove 24 in the lowerfforward portion of the receiver-unit I5. Preferablyan'd as shown, the said stabilizing-lug 28 includes an annular series ofupwardly-projecting fingers 29 which adaptthe triggerplate unit to be used as a wrench or other tool in assembling'and disassembling various features of a firearm of which it may form a part.

Intermediate its coupling-ribsl26- 26 and its stabilizing-lug 28, the trigger-plate unit I6 is also formed with a magazine-receiving passage 30 leading downwardly from =the magazine-receiving passage 20 formed inthe receiver-unit I5, which latter passage, in turn, leads downwardly from the forward portion of the bolt-receiving 'chamber'lfl. Extending transversely' across the trigger-plate unit l6 about midway the length 1 thereof, is a hammer-pin 32 upon which'is pivotally mounted a hammer generally designated by the reference character 33. The said hammer is partly accommodated in the suitably recessed adjacent portion of the triggenplate'unit I6, 5;

and is provided with an arcuate guard-arm 34, for purposes as will hereinafter appear. At its lower forwardpo'rtion, the guard-arm 34 of the hammer 33 is formed with an upwardly-facing cocking-abutment 35 which is engaged (when the firearm is cooked) by a downwardly-facingcock ingabutment 36 formed upon a sear-arm 3I rigid with and upstanding from a trigger 38. The said terclockwise movement by means of a helical trigger-spring thrusting upwardly at its upper ,end against a portion of the trigger 38 forwardly of the trigger-pin 39 and tln-usting at its lower end against an adjacent portion of the trigger plate unit I6.

trigger is pivo tally mountedin the low'er'rear portion of the trigger-plate unit 16 byrneans of a trigger-pin 39 extending transversely-across the I said unit. 'Thetri'gger38 includes et-depending finger-piece 40: which is normally protected by a1loop like trigger-guard 41" forming a rigid feature ofthe lower portion of "the trigger-plate unit IS. 1

.The trigger-pin 39 also pivotally mounts a secondarysear 42 which has pivotal movement relativeto the trigger 38 and the'sear-arm 31 thereof. The said secondary sear forms "no essential feature of thepresent invention and therefore requires no detailed'description herein other than to' note that it is provided with a downwardlyfacing cocking-abutment 43 adapted on occasion to engage with an upwardly-facing secondary The hammer 33 may be urged to swing in a clockwise direction to effect the discharge of the firearm in any suitable manner such, for instance, as by-a helicalhammer-spring 41 encircling a telescoping plunger 48 which is pivoted at its lower endto the trigger-plate unit as at 69, and which thrusts upwardly against the underside of the guard-arm! of the trigger 33. The upper or free end of the hammer is adapted to swing through the vertical clearance-passage 2! inthe rearportion of the receiver-unit I5 in moving from its cocked position to its firing position and vic'eversa.

When the receiver-unit I5 and trigger-plate unit, are assembled together as shown in Fig. 1

and installed in a suitable stock, the said units will remain in the relative positions in which they are shown in the said figure.

Inthe process of demounting or disassembling the firearm for purposes of inspection, repair or the like, the receiver-unit I 5 and the triggerplateunit I 8 would first jointly be removed or demounted from such stock as they may have been assembled with, after which the said trigger-plate unit I6 may be moved rearwardly relative to the receiver-unit l5 and hence, in the direction. required to bring out-of-registry and to disengage the coupling-ribs 2626 of the said trigger-plate unit from the coupling-ribs 25-25 of the said receiver-unit.

Now should the hammer 33 be in its cocked position as shown-in Figs. 1 and 2, the rearward movement of the trigger-plate unit l6 relative to the receiver-unit i5 willbe checked before the coupling-ribs 26-46 can be disengaged from the coupling-ribs 25-25, by the engagement of the guard-arm 34 of the hammer 33 with the forwardly-facing locking-abutment 22 of the said receiver-unit. Under these conditions, the parts will occupy the relative. positions in which'they are shown in Fig. 2.

In order to complete the uncoupling of the trigger-plate unit IB from the receiver-unit I5 under the circumstances just above referred to, it will be necessary to release the hammer 33 from its engagement with the sear-arm 3'! of the trigger 38 and gently permit the said hammer to swing in a clockwise direction toward its firing position until its forward face engages with a stop-abutment 50 formed in the upper portion of the extension 21 of the trigger-plate unit I6. Even, however, should the hammer 33 be released for free swinging movement when the triggerplate unit is in the position shown in Fig. 2 relative to the receiver-unit, the upward swinging movement of the saidhammer33 will beineffective for'disch'arging the firearm. j

In the normal use of the firearm, the user ammo win soon learn that the triggerepliate unit k; car not be demounted from the reccitorqmit while the hammer 33 is in its-cocked and will therefore take pains to seethat the said hammer is in its uncooked position prior-to the separation or thetriggerspiate unit M from the receiver-unit t5. a i i 1 It will be noted thatwhen' the hammeris swung upwardly into the position inwhich it is shown by full lines in Figs; 3 and 7., its guardiarmi'z l is sufficientl remote from, tbfliflfikilabutment 22 of the receivers-mew to permit'the trigger- .plate unit "to be moved relatively rearwardly a distance suflicient to completely disengage the coupling-ribs 26- 26 from the couplingribs 25-45, which position is indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3, The trigger-plate unit may then be moved directly downwardly relative to the receiver-unit l5 to efiect the complete separation of the two units.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming Within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first couplingmeans carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and releasably engageable with the said first coupling-means; a locking-abutment carried by one of the said units in position for engagement by a firing-member carried by the other of said units; and a firing-member carried by the other of said units and constructed and arranged when in its cocked position to engage the locking-abutment of the said unit so provided to prevent the disengagement of the two'said coupling-means from each other, the said firing-member being also constructed and arranged to move clear of the said locking-abutment when moved into its uncooked position.

2. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first couplingmeans carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and constructed and arranged to be engaged with and disengaged from the said first couplingmeans by a relative shifting of one of said units with respect to the other; a locking-abutment carried by one of the said units in position for engagement by afiring-member carried by the other of said units; and a firing-member carried by the other of said units and constructed and arranged when in its cocked position to engage the locking-abutment of the said unit so provided to prevent the disengagement of the two said coupling-means from each other, the said firingmember being also constructed and arranged to move clear of the said locking-abutment when moved into its uncooked position.

3. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first coupling-means carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and releasably engageable with the said first coupling-means; alocking-abutment carried by one of the said unitszin msition for engagement bya portionot a pivotal hammer carried by theether' of aid units; and a pivotal hammer carried by: theother of said units and including anJ QfisettingguaI'd-arm constructed and arranged when the said hammer is in its cocked position to engage the loekingeahutment of the. said unit so provided to prevent the disengagementof the two said counting-means from each other, the said pivotai hammer-b63118 also constructed and arrange'd to move its said guard arm clear of the said lockingaabutment when the hanmreris moved into. its uncooked position.

4. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first couplingmeans carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and releasably engageable with the said first coupling-means; a locking-abutment carried by the said receiver-unit in position for engagement by a firing-member carried by the said triggerplate unit; and a firing-member carried by the said trigger-plate unit and constructed and arranged when in its cocked position to engage the locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit to prevent the disengagement of the two said coupling-means from each other, the said firingmember being also constructed and arranged to move clear of the said locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit when the firing-member is moved into its uncocked position.

5. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first coupling-means carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and constructed and arranged to be engaged with and disengaged from the said first coupling-means by a relative shifting of one of said units with respect to the other; a locking-abutment carried by the said receiver-unit in position for engagement by a firing-member carried by the said trigger-plate unit; and a firing-member carried by the said trigger-plate unit and constructed and arranged when in its cocked position to engage the locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit to prevent the disengagement of the two said coupling-means from each other, the said firing-member being also constructed and arranged to move clear of the said locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit when the firingmember is moved into its uncooked position.

6. A firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver-unit; a trigger-plate unit located adjacent the said receiver-unit; first couplingmeans carried by the said receiver-unit; second coupling-means carried by the said trigger-plate unit and releasably engageable with the said first coupling-means; a locking-abutment carried by the said receiver-unit in position for engagement by a portion of a pivotal hammer carried by the said trigger-plate unit; and a pivotal hammer carried by the said trigger-plate unit and including an offsetting guard-arm constructed and arranged when the said hammer is in its cocked position to engage the locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit to prevent the disengagement of the two said coupling-means from each other, the said pivotal hammer being also constructed and arranged to move its said guardarm clear of the locking-abutment of the said receiver-unit when the hammer is moved into its uncooked position.

'7. A firearm-structure including in combinawardly into theinterior of the. said receiver-unit through the aperture in the latter, the said pivotal hammer including an ofl'setting guardarm constructed and arranged when thesaid hammer is in its'cocked position to engage with the locking-abutment in thejaperture of the said receiver-unit to prevent the disengagement of the two said coupling-means from each other, the said pivotal'hammer being also constructed and arranged tomove its said guard-arm clear of the said locking-abutment.,-when :the hammer is moved into its uncooked position. v --V a. .,DAVIDM. W1LLIAMS. 

